Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: the sceptre of legends
by mystery umbreon
Summary: when a thief meets a very confused pikachu, she expects nothing but an outlaw companion. however, when they are forced to make a rescue team, their friendship develops and many adventures result.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: wow! Second OC story I've done. Enjoy, and please tell me what you thought about it. Okay?

"Stop, thief!"

"Don't let her get away!"

"Faster! Run faster!"

A small Vulpix tore through the streets of diamond village, running frenetically away from her pursuers, a small cloth bag with stolen goods clenched tightly in her jaw. She pushed other Pokémon out of the way and ran faster, her delicate paws pounding into the ground.

Dodging some rocks thrown by the locals, the Vulpix dove behind a pile of hay and, recognizing a tiny green hill with a scrubby hole by the side, she turned her head to her pursuers, gave them a mischievous grin and disappeared through the Buneary hole, pushing past some very stunned Buneary; she flicked the stolen goods onto her tails and released small flames from her mouth and onto the Pokémon who had followed her into the tunnel, it must have hit at least one, because when the flames hit the end, a harsh cry of pain was heard. Grinning, she navigated through the series of maze-like tunnels and shot out of the other end, with the cloth bag's string glowing faintly from an ember that had hit it.

"Finally" she sighed, stopping by the exit. "I... finally have it!" she took the cloth bag and tipped a large gem out of the bag. She took it out and held it up, catching the sun's rays.

It was an exceedingly beautiful gem, as large as apple and shimmered delicately when the sun's rays hit it. It was a pretty silvery white on one side, with what looked like fluffy white clouds swirling on the inside, and on the other side, a pitch black swirling mist of odd shadows and black smoke, it was no wonder the Vulpix wanted it, ever since she had first set her eyes on it from Garchomp's gem stall, she knew it was going to be hers. Her grin widened as she admired it...

"Grr...Gwoh..."

She turned around, what was that noise? She peeked through the opening of the tunnel, but quickly dismissed the idea. After all, she had burned her pursuers, right? And you had to have at least a map to get through the buneary maze, but she had a right to be cautious...

She waited for some time for something to happen and, like a scene from a horror film, something long and thin poked out of the hole.

A green and white sickle-like object pushed its way through the hole and swung down on the earth, dragging something out of the hole, a triangle shaped head poked out and grinned maliciously at the Vulpix.

The Vulpix screamed and shot embers at the head instinctively. The Scyther cringed and roared in agony. But then something very odd happened.

The Scyther disappeared.

The Vulpix jumped and looked inquiringly into the hole, had it fled? Yet, her instincts told her that the Scyther was still around. Whimpering, she was about to flee when a green blur appeared to the right of her and grabbed her neck down with a scythe.

The Vulpix growled and struggled, but with every move she did, the scythe tightened around her neck, the sharp blade digging into her flesh.

"I've got you now, little thief" snarled the Scyther. "Now stop struggling, worm. It'll only make it worse; you'll never get away, deputy Stryke never loses his prey" he laughed, looking down at the Vulpix. "You'll be serving top time in the Pokémon prison now!"

The Vulpix froze, the Pokémon prison... the worst place a Pokémon could be in. She'd heard tales of arduous punishments and terrible food, most Pokémon died in the first two months, or went insane...

She looked up at deputy Stryke, whose eyes glittered with malice. She had to do something... anything... she couldn't end up in Pokémon prison...

The Vulpix quickly thought of a plan, she took in as much air as she could, and waited. It had to go right the first time, or deputy Stryke would finish her. She stared at deputy Stryke, waiting for the moment his head would be facing her.

His head turned around, a sneer plastered on his face.

Quick as lightning, the Vulpix released a stream of mega-heated air and embers at his eyes, he howled in pain, releasing the Vulpix to shield his eyes. The Vulpix picked up her precious bag and ran away as fast as her legs would go; she knew that the mini- heat wave would only delay deputy Stryke. So, picking up speed, she hurried as fast as she could, until she got to a beach.

She looked desperately around for a hiding place and, seeing a small cave, hurried towards it.

Bad move.

In her haste to get to the cave, she didn't notice an odd shaped lump of yellow sand until it was too late. She tripped up with it, and her jewel shot out of the bag... the Vulpix watched in horror as her treasure hit a pebble and shattered.

Screaming, she rushed over to the jewel and picked up what hadn't shattered into tiny fragments. Two small egg sized shards, one black, one white, remained.

The Vulpix picked these up mournfully, why hadn't she been more careful? Then her sadness turned to wrath, if only that stupid lump of sand hadn't been there...

She turned toward the lump of sand, which stood innocently, unaware of the damage it had just caused. The Vulpix growled, and stared at the lump, it must have been a sandcastle made by some stupid kid... suddenly, forgetting about deputy Stryke or the cave, she attacked the lump.

She kicked it hard, and began jumping up and down on it. "Stupid... useless...piece of..." she spat with each kick.

"Oow... quit it" said the lump of sand.

The lump of sand?

The Vulpix jumped and backed away. A talking lump of sand? That wasn't possible, was it? Was it a Ditto? A spirit? She stepped warily towards it, her nose twitching nervously.

"Ah... that hurt..." said the lump, taking a sandy hand and rubbing the reddened spot one of the Vulpix's kick had made.

"S-sorry" stammered the Vulpix.

"Um... could you help me up please?" said the lump, holding its hand out.

The vulpix nodded and picked the hand up gently and pulled. What came next were both a relief and a shock.

As the figure lifted itself out of the sand, she realised that it wasn't a lump of sand, but a sand-covered Pokémon! A Pikachu! Sighing with relief, she smiled at the Pikachu, who was dusting herself out.

"Whoa, where am I?" she groaned, rubbing the bruise on her head. Opening her eyes she looked around and, spotting the Vulpix, gave out a squeal of delight.

"A... Vulpix! Wow, I've never seen one this close up before, hey buddy, where's your trainer?" she cooed.

"What? Trainer? You mean a human? I don't have any, and why are you talking like I were a baby?" said the Vulpix.

The Pikachu gaped at the Vulpix in awe. "WOW! A talking Vulpix! Amaaaazing! Howd'ya learn to talk?"

"Same as you?" said the Vulpix with a small frown. "Anyway, what's a Pikachu like you doing lying around in the beach?"

"Um, sorry, I think I misheard you" said the Pikachu, tipping sand out of her ears.

"I said, what are you doing lying around in a beach?"

"No, not that part, I meant the last part, you called me a Pikachu"

"Well, if you don't want me to call you Pikachu, tell me your name" said the Vulpix. "I'm Fia, actually Fiametta, but don't call me that"

"Oh, ok... I'm... er...R-Ruby... yeah, that's it, Ruby! But anyway, why did you call me Pikachu? I mean, I don't look like one, do I?"

Fia frowned. "What do you mean? You look like a perfectly normal Pikachu to me"

"Come on, Fia. I'm not a Pikachu; I'm an ordinary hum-OH GOD!" Ruby screamed, staring at her chubby yellow paws."I-its... true! I... oh my god, how did this happen? What happened to me?" she squealed, tugging her tail and pulling her ears as if trying to yank them off.

"...Man, I reeeeally kicked you hard, didn't I? Come on, I'll get you some bandages..."

"NO! Please, believe me. I was a human; you've got to help me! I need to find out how... how I got like this!" she said, looking at Fia with pleading eyes. "Help me, please..."

Fia looked at Ruby. Should she help her? She couldn't afford to have somebody demanding food; she hardly managed to get enough food for herself, since she couldn't go to the diamond village market to buy supplies in case she was caught, unless...

Unless of course she helped with the stealing...

Fia considered Ruby's electric powers, they could paralyze! Of course! She imagined being in the market place, Ruby paralyzing everyone and them emptying all the food in the market place, they could even attack the jewel shop! She imagined deputy Stryke's stunned face as they made off with the whole loot...

She turned towards Ruby and smiled. "Well, of course I'll help you, don't worry about anything, but I just need a favor"

Ruby's ears perked up "R-really? You're going to help me?" then, before Fia could stop her, Ruby had enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh wow, thank you! This is so nice of you, and I'm a total stranger and you're still helping me! That means so much to me-"

"Okay okay, calm down, let's go to my house and sort things out before, ok?"

After a long walk, Ruby and Fia finally reached Fia's house, which happened to be a gigantic hollowed out tree trunk with a secret entrance in the side. Ruby gaped when she opened the door; it was a pretty messy room lighted with a dusky torch, with two soft hay beds at one side, there were a few coins and broken things lying around the floor. But what was most astonishing of all, were the walls, they were covered in pictures, there were some maps and pictures of Fia with other Pokémon, and pictures of a Ninetales with two other Pokémon, a Meganium and a Hitmonlee. Fia saw Ruby looking at the pictures and smiled.

"That was my mother's exploration team" she said, she walked toward a big picture of them and tapped each member with her paw. "That over there is Vera" she said, tapping the Meganium. "And he is Inder" she said, tapping the Hitmonlee. "And, well... that's my mother" she said, motioning to the Ninetales.

"What's an exploration team?" asked Ruby, tilting her head to one side.

"It's a little like a rescue team. You see, if Pokémon are ever in trouble or something like that, exploration teams rescue them; sometimes they fetch items for Pokémon, or catch outlaws..." Fia smiled at the word outlaws. "And they explore and find riches, that's what they do, I think"

"Wow, they certainly seem busy, and... um, can anybody join an exploration team?"

"Eh... I'm not too sure, but I think so, I mean, there's a whole lot of trouble and I don't suppose you can get too picky with teams" said Fia.

"And, do they get paid?" said Ruby, scratching her head.

"Yeah... in a way, you see they get rooms at the guild, and they can keep 10 % of the riches they find, they also get food"

"Oh cool, and... talking about food... um, do you have something to eat? I'm hungry... ehehe" said Ruby, giggling slightly.

"Uh... I think so, wait here" said Fia, rushing off to her food cupboard, it was bare, except for a lonely apple sitting in the top shelf, she bit her lip but pulled it out and split it in half, she gave one half to Ruby and munched on her own half hungrily.

"So... um, I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but, could you tell me more about your mother's exploration team?" said Ruby, munching on her apple.

"Wow, so you really don't know? Mother's exploration team was one of the most famous of all! Fiametta was My mother's name, I inherited her name... you see, Vera, Inder and Fiametta were one of the toughest exploration teams around, they were called: team fate, they were pretty well known for being able to undertake any mission with ease... well, almost any."

"You see, in that time there were a lot of tales of a so-called sceptre of legends, nobody knew if it really existed, but a lot of people thought that this sceptre would grant the holder the powers of all the legendaries together, including Arceus, because it had a small part of every legendary, alive or not alive, and it was rumoured that it was hidden in an ancient and hostile mountain called Regigigas' crown"

"Then, what happened?" asked Ruby, forgetting completely about the piece of apple in her mouth.

"Well, somebody sent an urgent message to the guild saying that somebody very unpleasant was out to steal the sceptre and, of course, team fate and other tough teams volunteered to go and help defend the sceptre or something... none of those exploration teams ever came back, nobody knows if they're alive or dead..." Fia stopped talking and hung her head.

Ruby stepped up to her and patted her back gingerly. "Gee, I'm sorry to hear that, Fia. Uh... did you say something about a favour? I want to help you in every way I can"

Fia looked up and hastily wiped tears from her face. "O-oh, yeah, about that... I'll fill you on the details later, but now we should go to sleep, it's getting really late and we need energy for tomorrow" she yawned and motioned to the hay beds. "Here, these should do nicely" she walked towards one of them and curled up on top of it, falling asleep almost immediately.

Ruby sat on top of the hay bed, she wasn't feeling sleepy at all. She sighed and tried to remember something about her being a human. Shutting her eyes, she concentrated...

Nothing...

She opened her eyes and looked towards Fia, who was snoozing peacefully under the soft glow of the torch, it was so weird, she thought. She couldn't remember anything about being a human, but she was _certain_ that she had been one before; closing her eyes again she imagined the smiling face of a pretty girl with straw coloured hair. She grinned and gave the girl a yellow dress with brown stripes, similar to her own stripes.

Letting her imagination flow; she conjured up the idea of two pigtails and blue eyes, and maybe a pet Pichu perching on her shoulder. She knew the chances of her being this imaginary human were one to a million, but it was fun to think otherwise.

She yawned, and, feeling her eyelids droop, she let the image of the girl fade and slipped into a deep sleep.

A/N: so, what did you think about it? Reviews greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: if you want to submit an outlaw or a mission, feel free to do so.

Ruby swam around her dream, a brightly coloured space, and safe from any disturbances. She floated happily and pounced on the imaginary bubbles she made. Happily, Ruby sat down on one and looked at the space.

Somebody was entering her dream, she could sense it. She turned her head towards one of the bubbles and waited.

A Pokémon was slowly materialising on top of a bubble, it wasn't doing a very good job of it, because it was barely visible and Ruby couldn't tell which colour was it exactly. Ruby floated towards it curiously.

"Who are you?" she asked the presence. It shifted, giving the impression that it had just noticed Ruby.

"That does...not matter right now" it said weakly. "I can't... there's something..."

"What?" Ruby asked, her curiosity aflame. The figure turned toward Ruby and faded out of view, leaving her confused and lonely.

She went and sat at the same bubble the strange Pokémon had sat on and tried to think up the girl she had imagined to keep her company, but nothing happened, her mind too rattled and inquisitive to think straight, so, pinching herself, she woke up.

Blinking in the brisk sunlight radiating from one of the windows, she scanned drowsily the house, her eyes passing the cupboards and things lining them and of the many pictures on the wall...

She looked at her hands; they were still chubby and yellow. Sighing, she decided to look at the pictures again.

Something shiny caught her attention; she turned sideways to see what looked like an odd-shaped knife. Ruby wondered if she should ask Fia about it, but decided against it, since she was still asleep. She crept under it warily and put her paw on it; the knife shifted and sank in the wall.

Ruby stood still, unsure of what to do. Had the knife been some sort of secret switch? Fia wouldn't be pleased if Ruby had messed up some secret trap or something. Then, with lightning quickness, the knife returned and seemed to want to cleave through the wall, since it cut the wall again and again, carving a hole in the wall.

Ruby jumped and stared at the knife, who was slowly carving its way in the house; a second knife joined it and sliced away at the wall. Ruby screamed and went towards Fia, shaking her violently awake.

"Fia! Wake up please! The knife in the wall, I touched it!" screamed Ruby in Fia's ear.

"I'm awake! Wait, what kn... Oh god, how did he find me here?" said Fia.

"How do you de-activate it?" yelled Ruby. "The trap! How do you turn it off?"

"It's not a trap" whispered Fia seriously. "Just get ready to battle"

"Battle?" asked Ruby faintly. "But I've just found out I've become a Pokémon!"

"You can do it" said Fia, elevating her tone. "You'll do it by instinct"

"Instinct?" asked Ruby. "What do you mea..." but then the thing that was trying to get into the house finally broke off a huge chunk of wall and stood in front of them wrathfully, its eyes glittering with malice...

Deputy Stryke had found Fia's hideout.

Fia growled at him, while Ruby yelped and dived behind Fia for safety. Stryke roared menacingly and swung his left scythe down, hoping to catch Fia's neck, Fia jumped to one side and shot embers rapidly at Stryke, but he shielded himself with one of his scythes and hit Fia's head powerfully with the other, sending her flying across the room and knocking her out.

Ruby screamed and hurled herself behind a toppled cupboard, trying to conjure up some of that instinct Fia had mentioned, but nothing happened. Not the faintest little spark ever crackled in her pouches like she'd remembered Pikachus did. She tried again but in that moment, Stryke discovered where she had hidden herself. A quick flick of his scythes and the cupboard had been sliced to splinters. Ruby yelped, realising that she was in the room with an angry Pokémon and with no one to defend her.

"P-please! Don't kill me, I've done nothing wrong!" she squealed, looking up at Stryke's pitiless eyes, he looked at her closely and laughed, then swung a single scythe towards Ruby, hitting her head and turning her world black.

...

...

Fia woke up with a start, unfortunately hitting her head on something very hard, she whimpered and even a few tears escaped from her eyes, that bump had hurt way more than it had to. She reached up and tried to feel if she had broken her skull, but the instant her paw touched her head she flinched and snapped her paw back painfully, she had obviously either hit her head VERY hard on something or her skull had broken. Her head still throbbed painfully, she had to do something. She scanned the room for any signs of somebody that could help her but the room seemed empty, just a cold stone floor, stone walls and metal bars...

Metal bars?

Fia jumped, finally realising she had been caught and put into the Pokémon prison, she entered in a panic and coursed frantically through the small room, she couldn't see any exit at all, the walls were solid, _rock solid_, and the metal bars seemed tough. She leapt over to them and spat embers at them, trying to melt them down or ever weaken them slightly, but nothing happened, the metal bars seemed as tough as she had first seen them, she had to find something sharp to try and cut them, then she suddenly remembered, her tails! She often kept items there. She quickly rummaged through them but found only two gems, one black and one white, she recognised them as the splinters of the huge one she had broken by tripping over Ruby.

Ruby! Where was that Pikachu? She scanned the room and found a small yellow bundle at the far corner. She let out a sigh of relief and ran over to her, and then small fragments of what had happened last night began filling her mind...

"_Fia! Wake up please! The knife in the wall, I touched it!" screamed Ruby in Fia's ear._

"_I'm awake! Wait, what kn... Oh god, how did he find me here?" said Fia._

"_How do you de-activate it?" yelled Ruby. "The trap! How do you turn it off?"_

She stopped abruptly, the knife in the wall? Then she realised Ruby must have been talking about one of Stryke's scythes... Stryke must have sank one in her wall to act as a probing rod to see if anyone was inside the tree, and when Ruby touched it, he realised that somebody must have been hiding there... it was Ruby's fault that they were trapped in the Pokémon prison! Then she heard a pained groan coming from the yellow bundle.

"A-ah... Oow, my head..." moaned Ruby, getting up slowly, then she noticed Fia staring at her angrily. "Oh, hi Fia! Um... where are we? Why do you look so cross?" Fia growled at her.

"It's your fault! Now thanks to you, we're stuck in the Pokémon prison, why did you touch that scythe?" she snarled.

"I... I didn't want to wake you up to tell you about the knife because you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you up, so I touched it and-"

"Oh! So you were actually doing me a favour, right? Well, thanks a LOT!" spat Fia sarcastically.

"But why are we in prison in the first place? I didn't do anything!" squealed Ruby.

"You didn't, but I did! I'm a thief, got it?" growled Fia, pointing a clawed finger at Ruby. "And  
I would have continued being one if YOU hadn't shown up, with your stupid tales of being a human... Hah! I bet you were only feigning that just so you could get someone to give you a hand, right?"

"What? No! I really was a human! It's not my fault we're stuck in this mess, it's yours!" yelled Ruby. "It's not my fault they're looking for you because you... Steal!"

"You know what Ruby? Yes, it is my fault, if I hadn't found you at that beach; I wouldn't be stuck in this mess. If I had ignored you and left you there for some idiot to wake you up I would be now in my nice house without you!" shouted Fia.

Something very odd happened to Ruby that moment, as she felt her anger grow, she also felt a very odd sensation, as if an odd sort of power was coursing through her veins and she loved that feeling, so she encouraged it to grow and as she did, she felt an odd sensation on her cheeks, they felt as if they were glowing, she continued to let that sensation grow until she found that her cheeks were enshrouded by little sparks. Acting almost robotically, she got into all fours, pointed her dented tail at Fia and unleashed a small thunderbolt at her.

Fia managed to recognise the signs of an angry Pikachu just in time; she yelped and leapt to one side swiftly, narrowly avoiding the thunderbolt that came so close to her she could feel the intense hotness of the bolt on her face.

"R-Ruby? Calm down, seriously. Whoa!" she yelled as another thunderbolt came her way, she managed to dodge it, but the tip if one of her tails had gotten slightly singed.

"Oi, quit fighting you two" yelled a voice from outside the cage, Ruby's cheeks stopped sparkling and both of them looked over to where the source of the voice had come from, they turned to see an Ursaring glaring at them through the bars. He pointed a claw at them. "You two are s'pposed to keep quiet until officer Lucario decides what to do with yeh" the Ursaring shook his head. "Damn, you two must have stolen somethin' pretty valuable to be judged personally by him"

"I didn't steal anything, she did!" yelled Ruby, pointing her finger at Fia.

"Ah... stop screaming, I have a headache" muttered the Ursaring, massaging his scalp then a knock at the door made all of them jump. Officer Lucario walked in the dimly lighted room.

"The guild seems to want to take this matter into their own hands" he said, his eyes darting over to Fia and Ruby. "I was informed that the item these two stole belonged to the guild and that it was immensely valuable, the Guildmaster thinks that he has a... way of making these criminals pay" he turned his head towards a dark corner. "Jack, Pebbles, do you mind escorting these two ladies to the guild?"

"Heh heh, of course not, officer" two rough voices chorused, two Graveler stepped out of the shadows and opened the door to the cage, catching Ruby and Fia in their eight rocky arms sturdily.

"Carver, I'd like you to accompany Jack and pebbles to the guild, is that understood?" said officer Lucario.

"Certainly, officer" said Carver, he walked towards the door and motioned for the Gravelers to follow. Nodding a quick goodbye to officer Lucario, they walked out of the prison.

"Whoa, what _did_ you steal?" said Carver chuckling slightly. "Sheeoot! I mean, to be judged by none other than the Guildmaster..."

"Oh, shut it" snapped Fia angrily, but the rocky hands holding her heightened their grip painfully.

"Oh, come on..." said Carver. "You're going to jail anyway, and you're probably not going to come back any time soon, so you might as well tell me"

"Okay but... tell... this... I can't... breathe!" whispered Fia with difficulty.

"Relax, Pebs" he said. The Graveler holding Fia relaxed her grip slightly, allowing Fia to breathe normally.

"Thanks... er... I stole the Thaneros gem, okay?" said Fia.

"WOW! The Thaneros gem? H-holy crap! How did you manage that? Shoot!" said Carver, his mouth wide open. "I thought Stryke was guarding that"

"He was, I just waited for the right moment and I got it" said Fia, sort of shrugging her shoulders.

"Damn girl, you are in for it for sure!" said Carver with a little laugh.

"Uh... what's the Thaneros gem?" asked Ruby.

"You don't know?" asked Carver, sounding surprised.

"Oh, she doesn't know anything, she's just a sad little Pikachu who thinks she was a human" said Fia, rolling her eyes.

"I don't think I am, I AM!" yelled Ruby.

"Aww, not the screaming again, please" moaned Carver. "I'll tell you about the gem if you promise to stop screaming, kay?"

"Fine, but tell me already" said Ruby. Carver nodded.

"Hmm... where to start... well, the Thaneros gem was the most beautiful and rare gem that has ever existed, only one in its kind!" said Carver with a small smile.

"But what's so special about it?" asked Ruby impatiently.

"I'm getting there" said Carver. "Well, the deal is that they found it in one of the most dangerous and hostile mountains there, mountain Thaneros, that's how it got its name. And when they brought it over for examination at the guild, Xatu said that it was an extremely dangerous gem that should be guarded with great care, and say, don't you happen to have it now?"

"I have what's left of it" said Fia, her tails shifted and one of them wrapped around the gem fragments and pulled them out, presenting them to Carver, but when he reached for them she withdrew her tail immediately and hid them.

"Man, the Guildmaster isn't going to be happy about that" said Carver, shaking his head. "And that gem was fetched by the most amazing explorer teams ever!"

"Who were they?" asked Ruby, tilting her head to one side.

"Uh, I can't remember, actually... Oh hey! We're already there!" Carver stood and gazed upon what looked like a small mountain with an odd shaped orange tent at the very top. "Ugh, why did the Guildmaster build his guild on such a high place?" he sighed in annoyance and began to climb the many rocky steps. When he was about three quarters there Ruby finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Uh, Mr Carver? You believe me, right?" she asked, looking up at him.

"About what?" he said.

"About the fact that I didn't help to steal the thaneebus orb?"

"Thaneros" corrected Carver. "Well, actually... I do, you don't seem to have the ability, or even the heart to steal it, but unfortunately, it's not my decision to judge that"

"Oh no, then I'll go to jail for a crime that _she_ did" said Ruby, twitching her head towards Fia.

"Actually, you might not" said Carver with a smile. "If you well and truly didn't do it, Xatu will find out. That guy can see into the past, present and future, pretty amazing if ya ask me"

"Wait, he can see into the past? Then... maybe he could tell me what happened to me, how I got like this" said Ruby hopefully.

"Hmm... actually, I don't guarantee that, if you had been a human, he wouldn't be able to see you as how you got like that, he would only see your Pokémon past, see? But I don't know, that guy has more abilities than he lets on" said Carver, scratching his chin. "Anyway, we're almost there, you can see the guild now" he pointed towards the tent, which was shaped like a huge Dragonite's head and torso, outside, various totem poles with Pokémon heads and bodies were carved upon it, looking ominously at the visitors. "Pebs, Jack, take the prisoners to Guildmaster Dragonite's chamber, he's waiting for them, I'll be... uh... taking a rest" Carver sighed and plopped on the floor, exhausted from the climbing, even though the Gravelers holding Fia and Ruby didn't seem to be tired.

"Wait, You're leaving us to face the Guildmaster _alone?_" said Ruby. "He seems scary"

"Don't worry, the old dragon's a fair guy, besides, I'll come after, I'm just going to have a little rest" said Carver, shutting his eyes. The Graveler shifted and began to walk into the tent.

"Who goes there?" a voice thundered from the inside of the tent. "Identify yourselves!"

"They're Jack, Pebs and the prisoners the Guildmaster wanted" grunted Carver. Then a Pokémon began materialising in front of them, a Gallade, with his elbow blades extended, glared at them and nodded, stepping to one side to let them in. Inside the tent, the only thing inside seemed to be a small ladder leading down into a deep hole, the Graveler detached two of their arms each to climb down the ladder.

Ruby and Fia found themselves in an absolutely enormous room, chockfull of Pokémon, some were chatting volubly, others were looking at a notice board with pictures of Pokémon and writing and Ruby wondered how they could get so much light without the torches, which weren't lighted, then she noticed a long row of circular windows, that let natural light in, Ruby frowned, they were _inside _a mountain, how could there be windows? As she was wondering this, the other Pokémon turned to greet their visitor, but their smiles quickly transformed into a scowl when they saw Fia, some pointed to the notice board and then at Fia, whispering quickly. Ruby looked over to the notice board and saw Fia's picture snarling at them menacingly. The Gravelers laughed and parted the crowd with their huge bodies, walking in front of a door with a logo shaped like a Dragonite's wing.

They entered the door, revealing a rather big room covered with rugs and strips of fabric with the same wing logo as the one outside, treasure chests were littered around inside, with golden coins, pearls and other treasures that left Fia staring at hungrily. In the very centre of the room, a Dragonite sat in a big chair, with a Mothim fluttering by his side.

"Here are the prisoners you wanted, Guildmaster" the Gravelers chorused, and threw Ruby and Fia roughly onto the floor.

"Ow" muttered Ruby, getting up slowly.

"So, these are the thieves that stole the Thaneros gem, aren't they?" growled the Dragonite, examining Fia and Ruby carefully.

"Guildmaster sir, I didn't do anything, she was the one that stole the gem!" said Ruby quickly, pointing at Fia.

"SILENCE! Do not interrupt the Guildmaster while he is talking!" yelled the Mothim, fluttering his wings angrily. Ruby yelped in fear and shrank back.

"You might not realise this, but that gem was extremely valuable and unless you can return it, you two will have to pay for it, understood?" said the Guildmaster, as if Ruby hadn't said anything.

"Yes" chorused Fia and Ruby.

"Say 'yes Guildmaster'" whispered the Mothim angrily.

"Yes Guildmaster" said Ruby and Fia, bowing their heads. The Guildmaster nodded and smiled coldly.

"Do you have the gem in your possession?" he asked.

"She has what's left of-Ow!"Said Ruby after getting smacked by one of Fia's tails.

"No Guildmaster" said Fia, giving Ruby a sharp look.

"I see, well, you two will have to pay for it" said the Guildmaster.

"But Guildmaster, I don't..." began Fia. The Guildmaster raised his hand for Fia to be quiet.

"I never said for you to speak" he said. "You will still have to pay me for the gem, and now you may ask questions"

"Uh, Guildmaster? Will we go to jail?" asked Ruby.

"No, keeping you in prison will not repay my gem" said the Guildmaster.

"But how are we supposed to pay for it?" asked Fia.

"Well, that is not my problem" said the Guildmaster, shutting his eyes.

"Guildmaster? I think I know how to repay your gem" said Ruby quietly, the Guildmaster blinked in surprise and looked at Ruby curiously.

"How do you propose you can repay my gem?" said the Guildmaster, eyeing Ruby cynically.

"Well, Fia told me about exploration teams and how they find riches, well, how about if we..."

"...Join an exploration team to repay for the gem" finished the Guildmaster. "Yes, that sounds reasonable, what do you think, Cyano?"

"G-Guildmaster? Uh, well, if you are okay with that decision, then I am too" said Cyano, twitching his antennas nervously. The Guildmaster nodded.

"It is agreed then, you two will form an exploration team and will, in that way, repay me for the gem, most of the riches that you find will be given the guild, you will sleep in the chambers you will be assigned to, you will receive two meals a day and when you have finally paid for the gem you will be free to go, is that understood?" said the Guildmaster. "Cyano! Register these two as an official exploration team"

"Yes Guildmaster" said Cyano, he fluttered over to one of the chests and withdrew a bag, a badge and a pencil and paper.

"Okay, now, what is the team name?... well, hurry up, we haven't got all day!" shrieked Cyano impatiently.

"Er... how about... team Rush? I don't know, what do you think, Fia?" asked Ruby.

"Yeah, I suppose" shrugged Fia.

Cyano nodded "Okay, team Rush. Team leader?"

"Ruby" said Fia immediately. Ruby raised her eyebrows questioningly. Cyano nodded and wrote everything down.

"Good, good, now, follow me to your team quarters, oh, and these are your team things" he chucked the bag towards Ruby, who caught it in the air. Cyano fluttered out of the door, motioning for team Rush to follow, they nodded and followed Cyano.

Everyone outside the room stared at them menacingly, but luckily, Cyano noticed. "This is the new exploration team, by order of the Guildmaster. So you will treat them as any other team and I will inform the Guildmaster of any hostility shown by you guys, is that understood?" the other teams nodded and turned their heads away reluctantly. Cyano fluttered over to another door and opened it, showing a very dark and long corridor that was lighted with a score of burning torches. Cyano fluttered around, looking at the row of doors that were strewn across the corridor. Ruby read the labels curiously. Team Spirit, Team Windrush, Team Catty, Team Spark...

Just as Ruby was wondering why someone would name their team 'Team puffyball', Mothim flitted towards a door without any name on the door. "This will be your quarters; you may decorate it as you please" Cyano opened the door, revealing a round, bare room with nothing but two piles of hay and an ample window at the end, the sunset shining through it and tinting the room golden.

"It's really pretty" said Ruby happily. "Hey, cheer up, Fia! Maybe we could put up some of your mother's old team pictures!"

Fia sniffed indifferently. "Maybe". Cyano examined Fia closely.

"Say, your mother wouldn't happen to be Fiametta from Team Fate, would she?" Fia nodded numbly. "Impressive! I never would have guessed that she..."

"Had given birth to such a horrible thief? Yeah, thanks, I get it a lot" said Fia sourly. Cyano's wings drooped slightly.

"I wasn't going to say that..." he said glumly. "I admired your mother while she was in this guild, everyone did actually, I just never knew she had had a daught-"

"You can leave now" said Fia sharply. "Ruby and I are tired and we want to go to sleep, so if you may..."

"B-but it's only sunset! And aren't you going to have supper?" said Cyano quickly.

"NO! Leave us alone" yelled Fia, pushing Cyano through the door and slamming it; she sighed and pushed past Ruby, sitting by the window.

"Uh, hey Fia, can I ask you something?" said Ruby.

"You just did" said Fia matter-of-factly.

"No, I mean, why did you make me team leader?" asked Ruby.

"Well, you got us into this mess, so you can take charge of it" said Fia blankly. "And anyway, why Team Rush?"

"I dunno" said Ruby, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, maybe we should get some sleep, shouldn't we? I mean, if we're going to repay the Guildmaster, we should at least wake up well rested and full of energy" Ruby settled on the hay and yawned. "Though I am hungry..." Fia nodded and went to sit by Fia on the other pile of hay.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right..." said Fia, finally lying down. "Uh, Ruby? About what I said back at the prison cell? Sorry about that, I'm glad I found you" Ruby smiled.

"Hey, thanks for that" she said, shutting her eyes. "Night Fia"

"Good night Ruby" said Fia, shutting her eyes and curling her six tails around herself.


End file.
